Is it safe to wash the engine bay and use a de-greaser on the plastic/rubber parts? I've only cleaned down the top plastic covering everything, not the entire engine.... don't want an expensive repair bill due to a short!

 

No it is not safe, chances are you will short at least one thing out, it would be better to use compressed air and blow out the engine. You could purchase a couple cans of brake cleaner, and spot clean parts of the engine. But be careful with brake cleaner, it would probably do a number on painted surfaces.

 

I washed under my hood about once every 3 months on my Accord for over 12 years. It recently died at 280K hard miles (tranmission went).
Its fine. Just spray with simple green when cold, let site for 30 minutes and then rinse with a low-pressure indirect spray.

 

My advice is not place water directly on your engine. It's not safe and IMO will only cause you headaces

 

I detailed the engine on my '07 ES350 and it was fine. Spray all purpose/degreaser around affected areas and lightly spray off after letting it sit. I would not put direct water on it for too long, just indirectly and for not an extended period of time, and I also recommend the car to be running while you do all of this. It doesn't need to be done often, but keeps the engine appearance and area clean. After you finish, let it run for a bit and maybe take it for a short drive up and down the street. With that I think you'll be good, good luck!

 

Modern car engines are built to withstand water. Regardless, I would NOT recommend hosing it down. Water is always the enemy with aging a car- inside or out. If you want to safely clean things up, use some damp rags to wipe the dirty areas off. A spray degreaser on the other areas. This mild method will clean things up w/o risking anything else. An easier way to avoid this in the first place is to simply wipe off the engine every two months. You'll never get an accumulation that requires more drastic measures.

 

I have had many cars over the years and have washed the engine bay on all of them with a mild detergent and high pressure or low pressure water. Never hurt any of them. It keeps the engine looking nice and runnign cooler, maybe a little. New engines are not affected by washing as long as good judgement is implemented, and the car looks much nicer. IMO.

 

Fizzboy7 summed it up nicely. If you still have doubts then check with your dealer service department. It really doesn't matter how long someone else has done it, you could do it one time and get screwed.

 

Water, Soap and a rag, preferably microfiber. There are good threads in the detail forum. I used search
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/aut...ghlight=engine
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/aut...ghlight=engine
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/aut...ghlight=engine
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/aut...ghlight=engine

 

When I clean my engines, I use the tall kitchen white plastic bags and cover anything that is electrical in nature. Spray the degreaser and use the mist flow or light on the shower flow on your multihead lawn nozzle to rinse. Start the car and let it run for a few minutes. I made the mistake years ago of using high pressure car wash hose on the degreased '04 Lincoln LS. Car would not run and the dealer charged over $700 to replace a numebr of coil paks that I ruined in the process (labor intensive - had to undo the intake manifold).